Judges 11
1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was his father.
Fuit itaque illo in tempore Iephte Galaadites vir fortissimus atque pugnator, filius mulieris meretricis, qui natus est de Galaad.
2 Gilead's wife also gave birth to his other sons. When his wife's sons grew up, they forced Jephthah to leave the house and said to him, “You are not going to inherit anything from our family. You are the son of another woman.”
Habuit autem Galaad uxorem, de qua suscepit filios: qui postquam creverant, eiecerunt Iephte, dicentes: Heres in domo patris nostri esse non poteris, quia de altera matre natus es.
3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah and they came and went with him.
Quos ille fugiens atque devitans, habitavit in Terra Tob: congregatique sunt ad eum viri inopes, et latrocinantes, et quasi principem sequebantur.
4 Some days later, the people of Ammon made war against Israel.
In illis diebus pugnabant filii Ammon contra Israel.
5 When the people of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah back from the land of Tob.
Quibus acriter instantibus perrexerunt maiores natu de Galaad, ut tollerent in auxilium sui Iephte de Terra Tob:
6 They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader that we may fight with the people of Ammon.”
dixeruntque ad eum: Veni et esto princeps noster, et pugna contra filios Ammon.
7 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “You hated me and forced me to leave my father's house. Why do you come to me now when you are in trouble?”
Quibus ille respondit: Nonne vos estis, qui odistis me, et eiecistis de domo patris mei, et nunc venistis ad me necessitate compulsi?
8 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we are turning to you now; come with us and fight with the people of Ammon, and you will become the leader over all who live in Gilead.”
Dixeruntque principes Galaad ad Iephte: Ob hanc igitur causam nunc ad te venimus, ut proficiscaris nobiscum, et pugnes contra filios Ammon, sisque dux omnium qui habitant in Galaad.
9 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the people of Ammon, and if Yahweh gives us victory over them, I will be your leader.”
Iephte quoque dixit eis: Si vere venistis ad me, ut pugnem pro vobis contra filios Ammon, tradideritque eos Dominus in manus meas, ego ero vester princeps?
10 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “May Yahweh be witness between us if we do not do as we say!”
Qui responderunt ei: Dominus, qui haec audit, ipse mediator ac testis est quod nostra promissa faciemus.
11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him leader and commander over them. When he was before Yahweh in Mizpah, Jephthah repeated all the promises he made.
Abiit itaque Iephte cum principibus Galaad, fecitque eum omnis populus principem sui. Locutusque est Iephte omnes sermones suos coram Domino in Maspha.
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, saying, “What is this conflict between us? Why have you come with force to take our land?”
Et misit nuncios ad regem filiorum Ammon, qui ex persona sua dicerent: Quid mihi et tibi est, quia venisti contra me, ut vastares terram meam?
13 The king of the people of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because when Israel came up out of Egypt, they seized my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, over to the Jordan. Now give back those lands in peace.”
Quibus ille respondit: Quia tulit Israel terram meam, quando ascendit de Aegypto a finibus Arnon usque Ieboc atque Iordanem: nunc ergo cum pace redde mihi eam.
14 Again Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon,
Per quos rursum mandavit Iephte, et imperavit eis ut dicerent regi Ammon:
15 and he said, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab and the land of the people of Ammon,
Haec dicit Iephte: Non tulit Israel Terram Moab, nec Terram filiorum Ammon:
16 but they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Sea of Reeds and on to Kadesh.
sed quando de Aegypto conscenderunt, ambulavit per solitudinem usque ad Mare rubrum, et venit in Cades.
17 When Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Please let us pass through your land,' the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he refused. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.
Misitque nuncios ad regem Edom, dicens: Dimitte me ut transeam per terram tuam. Qui noluit acquiescere precibus eius. Misit quoque ad regem Moab, qui et ipse transitum praebere contempsit. Mansit itaque in Cades,
18 Then they went through the wilderness and turned away from the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and they went along the east side of the land of Moab and they camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not go into the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was Moab's border.
et circuivit ex latere Terram Edom, et Terram Moab: venitque contra Orientalem plagam Terrae Moab, et castrametatus est trans Arnon: nec voluit intrare terminos Moab: Arnon quippe confinium est Terrae Moab.
19 Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon; Israel said to him, 'Please, let us pass through your land to the place that is ours.'
Misit itaque Israel nuncios ad Sehon regem Amorrhaeorum, qui habitabat in Hesebon, et dixerunt ei: Dimitte ut transeam per terram tuam usque ad fluvium.
20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his army together and moved it to Jahaz, and there he fought against Israel.
Qui et ipse Israel verba despiciens, non dimisit eum transire per terminos suos: sed infinita multitudine congregata egressus est contra eum in Iasa, et fortiter resistebat.
21 Then Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel and they defeated them. So Israel took all the land of the Amorites who lived in that country.
Tradiditque eum Dominus in manus Israel cum omni exercitu suo, qui percussit eum, et possedit omnem Terram Amorrhaei habitatoris regionis illius,
22 They took over everything within the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
et universos fines eius de Arnon usque Iaboc, et de solitudine usque ad Iordanem.
23 So then Yahweh, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites before his people Israel, and should you now take possession of their land?
Dominus ergo Deus Israel subvertit Amorrhaeum, pugnante contra illum populo suo Israel, et tu nunc vis possidere terram eius?
24 Will you not take over the land that Chemosh, your god, gives you? So whatever land Yahweh our God has given us, we will take over.
Nonne ea quae possidet Chamos Deus tuus, tibi iure debentur? Quae autem Dominus Deus noster victor obtinuit, in nostram cedent possessionem:
25 Now are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he dare to have an argument with Israel? Did he ever wage war against them?
nisi forte melior es Balac filio Sephor rege Moab: aut docere potes, quod iurgatus sit contra Israel, et pugnaverit contra eum,
26 While Israel lived for three hundred years in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are along the banks of the Arnon—why then did you not take them back during that time?
quando habitavit in Hesebon, et viculis eius, et in Aroer, et villis illius, vel in cunctis civitatibus iuxta Iordanem, per trecentos annos. Quare tanto tempore nihil super hac repetitione tentastis?
27 I have not done you wrong, but you are doing me wrong by attacking me. Yahweh, the judge, will decide today between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.”
Igitur non ego pecco in te, sed tu contra me male agis, indicens mihi bella non iusta. Iudicet Dominus arbiter huius diei inter Israel, et inter filios Ammon.
28 But the king of the people of Ammon rejected the warning Jephthah sent him.
Noluitque acquiescere rex filiorum Ammon verbis Iephte, quae per nuncios mandaverat.
29 Then the Spirit of Yahweh came on Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed through to the people of Ammon.
Factus est ergo super Iephte Spiritus Domini, et circuiens Galaad, et Manasse, Maspha quoque Galaad, et inde transiens ad filios Ammon,
30 Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh and said, “If you give me victory over the people of Ammon,
votum vovit Domino, dicens: Si tradideris filios Ammon in manus meas,
31 then whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the people of Ammon will belong to Yahweh, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
quicumque primus fuerit egressus de foribus domus meae, mihique occurrerit revertenti cum pace a filiis Ammon, eum holocaustum offeram Domino.
32 So Jephthah passed through to the people of Ammon to fight against them, and Yahweh gave him victory.
Transivitque Iephte ad filios Ammon, ut pugnaret contra eos: quos tradidit Dominus in manus eius.
33 He attacked them and caused a great slaughter from Aroer as far as Minnith—twenty cities—and to Abel Keramim. So the people of Ammon were put under the control of the people of Israel.
Percussitque ab Aroer usque dum venias in Mennith, viginti civitates, et usque ad Abel, quae est vineis consita, plaga magna nimis. humiliatique sunt filii Ammon a filiis Israel.
34 Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah, and there his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. She was his only child, and besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
Revertente autem Iephte in Maspha domum suam, occurrit ei unigenita filia sua cum tympanis et choris. non enim habebat alios liberos.
35 As soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Oh! My daughter! You have crushed me with sorrow, and you have become one who causes me pain! For I have made an oath to Yahweh, and I cannot turn back on my promise.”
Qua visa, scidit vestimenta sua, et ait: Heu me filia mea decepisti me, et ipsa decepta es: aperui enim os meum ad Dominum, et aliud facere non potero.
36 She said to him, “My father, you have made a vow to Yahweh, do to me everything you promised, because Yahweh has taken vengeance for you against your enemies, the Ammonites.”
Cui illa respondit: Pater mi, si aperuisti os tuum ad Dominum, fac mihi quodcumque pollicitus es, concessa tibi ultione atque victoria de hostibus tuis.
37 She said to her father, “Let this promise be kept for me. Leave me alone for two months, that I may leave and go down to the hills and grieve over my virginity, I and my companions.”
Dixitque ad patrem: Hoc solum mihi praesta quod deprecor: Dimitte me ut duobus mensibus circumeam montes, et plangam virginitatem meam cum sodalibus meis.
38 He said, “Go.” He sent her away for two months. She left him, she and her companions, and they grieved her virginity in the hills.
Cui ille respondit: Vade. Et dimisit eam duobus mensibus. Cumque abiisset cum sociis ac sodalibus suis, flebat virginitatem suam in montibus.
39 At the end of two months she returned to her father, who did with her according to the promise of the vow he had made. Now she had never slept with a man, and it became a custom in Israel
Expletisque duobus mensibus, reversa est ad patrem suum, et fecit ei sicut voverat, quae ignorabat virum. Exinde mos increbruit in Israel, et consuetudo servata est:
40 that the daughters of Israel every year, for four days, would retell the story of the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
ut post anni circulum conveniant in unum filiae Israel, et plangant filiam Iephte Galaaditae diebus quattuor.
